Mouthpiece.



L. STEINBBRGERL MOUTHPIEGB.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE13, 1910.

Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

INVENTOB [0M3 LY/w/Maya' ATTORNEYS WITNESSES:

nnrrnn 's'rergns PATENT onnrcn.

LOUIS s'rnrnsnnenn, or'nnw worse, at. s.

MOUTHB IECE.

seams.

Specification of Letters Patents Patented Apr, ill, 1913 Applicationfiled June 13, 1916. Serial N0.=566,581.

'0 all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I Louis STmNBnnsnR a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of NewYork, borough of Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedMouthpiece, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to mouth pieces, my more particular purposebeingto'improve the acoustical action of the mouth piece, espeeially asapplied for use in connection with telephone transmitters and the like,

' and I seek at the same time to. provide a form of construction thatwill effectually prevent chipping or breaking away of p01- tions of themouthpiece,' my construction thus combining greatmechanical strength andefficiency.

My invention also provides a novel man; ner for mounting the mouthpiecein operative position s My invention compre e ds a mouthpiece providedwith a number of separate passages, each having the form or a conefrustum, the ends or" the-passages, however,- being rounded, and thevarious individual passages being so disposed that the larger endof onepassage extends in the same general direction of the smaller end ofanother passage, this arrangement of the, passages tending to preserve,and practicallyto in.- ei'ease, the sound vibrations transmitted throughthe various passages By my an rangementsome of thepassages concentratethe sound; waves at a pointadjacent to the diaphragm, while other of thepassages expend the sound wavesat a point adjacent to the diaphragm; thecombined action improving greatly the general eliect.

My invention further comp'rehcnds giving the mouthpiece such aconformity as renders it especially adaptable for connection withcitherran old style face plate provided with a thread, or a two-partface plate having a smooth suriaee for engaging the mouthpiece. I

Myzinvention also comprehends the construction of a mouthpicce made upof a single integral. block or mass of material, solid throughoutexceptfor the apertures for receiving the sound waves; hence l am enabled toprovide a mouthpiece possessing the greatest possible mechanicalstrength. Itis 'well known by those. familiar with this art that a verylarge percentage of the mouthpieces in common use are soon chipped orbroken, and must be replaced with new ones, thereby creating aconsiderable and constant loss to the owners of the ppar tus, v

My invention still further comprehends giving themouthpiece suchconformity that glass, porcelain. or other brittle material may beemployed with good effect. livhen such materials are employed, the mouthpiece becomes hygienic 1n the best sense of the Word, as it may beboiled in water or other liquid, or cleansed in acids, alka'lis or otherdisinfecting solutions. Mouthpieces made in accordance with myinvention,- when made up of suitable material, are practicallyindestructible;

I have made the discovery that many mouthpieces now in common use areexceedingly wasteful of the energy ofthe sound vibrations associatedwith them. I have also made the discovery that by giving the mouthpiecepro er conformity hereinafter described, the e ectiveness of themouthpiece, from an. acoustical standpoint, may be very greatlyincreased.

One feature of my invention is based upon the idea that, a passage ofsubstantially frusto-oonic'al form, if placed with its porcauses thediaphragm to vibrate as nearly as possible under the influence of theprincipal harmonics, thereby increasing the loudness of the sounds.

Another feature of my invention is based upon the idea that a passage offrusto-oonical form, if so placed relative to a diaphragm, that theportion of largest diann eter of the passage is in close proximity tothe diaphragm, but notin the center thereof, the over tones are greatlyamplified and the fidelity of the speech or other sounds at the sametime is there-fore preserved. In fact, the practical efi'ect is that ofamplifying the sounds most difficult to transmit. I attribute this sinIlRI effect to the well known propertieso ahorn or trumpet. Thefrustoconical. passages acting upon the principle of the horn ortrumpet, aretf'so placed that the portion of the passage correspondingto the largeend of the horn or trumpet is in close proximity to thediaphragm.

In some instances I deem it desirable, in arranging the variouspassages, to have a plurality of them disposed with their portions ofsmallest diameter in closeprox; imity to the diaphragm. While thisarrangement is not necessary in all cases, or

even desirable in all instances, it sometimes has its advantages,especially where loudness of articulation is a great consideration.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 is anenlarged section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction ofthe arrow, and showing my improved with a massive portion 8. Thismassive portion is very strong, and 15 not liable -to break or chip. Aswill be understood from F1g.=

l, the mouth piece is provided with a thread ed portion 7 of reduceddiameter, and is also provided with an angular groove 9, and with theusual kerfs, one of which is shown at 10, to equalize or determine thestrains.

The mouth piece is provided with a central passage 11, the passagehaving generally the form of a cone frustum, the mouth piece, however,being slightly rounded at the end of this passage, as will be understoodfrom Fig. l. The axis of the passage 11 coincides with the generalgeometric axis of the mouth piece, so that the portion of smallestdiameter of the passage 11, occupies such a position that when the mouthpiece is in use upon a-diaphragm, this portion of, smallest diameter isin'close prox imity to the middle of said diaphragm. The passages 152,13 are shaped like the passage 11, and differ from the latter merely inthe fact that they are not located in the middle of the diaphragm, butupon. the. opposite sides of said middle. The mouth piece is providedwith other passages 14, all having the shape above described, butdiffering from the passages 11, 12, and 13 in that they extend in theopposite direction. The passages lt perform the peculiar hornlikefunction above described, and conserve the loudness, as well therichness and purity of the over tones.

By making the face plate in halves, as above described, the mouthpiecemay be firml clam' ed'into nositisn indicated in W I L s plate ofordinary construction after the manner of the operation of a screw.

I do not limit myself to any particular material to be used in theconstruction of the mouth piece'above described, as I may use porcelain,glass, or such like material, or hard rubber, fiber, wood or such likematerials, but I prefer in many instances to employ for this purpose theinsulating ma terial well known in this art as electrose Nor do I limitmyself to employ in every instance apertures tapering in oppositedirections, nor to employ in every instance apertures of tapering form,nor to employ in every instance a plurality of apertures.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A,mouth piece comprising a plurality of passages, each havingsubstantially the form of a cone-frustum, the portion of large diameterof one of said passages extending in the same general direction as theportion of smallest diameter of another of said passages.

2. A mouth piece comprising a body member having a single centralpassage extending entirely through it and coinciding substantially withits general geometric axis, said passage having portions of differentdiameter, its portion of largest diameter being at one end of said mouthpiece, and its portion of smallest diameter being at the opposite endthereof, said mouth piece being further provided with a second passagehaving portions of different diameter, the portion of greatest diameterof said second mentioned passage being disposed adjacent to the portionof smallest diameter of said first mentioned passage.

3. A mouth piece comprising a body member provided with an annulargroove, and a face plate made in halves and provided with semi-circularedges for fitting into said groove.

4. A mouth piece comprising a body member provided with sound passagesand with portions separating said sound passages, said mouth piece beingfurther provided with an outer portion havin a thickness great ascompared with the thickness of the portions separating said passages.

5. A mouth piece comprising a body portion provided with frusto-conicalform, said mouth piece being further provided with a portion having athickness greater than that of portions between said passages.

6. A mouth piece, comprising a body portion having an axial length greatas compared with its cross diameter, said body porpassages ofsubstantially tion being provided with sound passages,

and further provided with a solid portion encircling the'outer ends ofsaid sound passages, said solid portion being rounded upon its externalsurface.

7. A mouth-piece comprising a body member of solid form provided with anaperture extending-along its geometric center and having generally theform of a cone frustum, said body member being further provided with aplurality of other sound passages each having the form of a eonefrustum, said last-mentioned passages having their portions of smallestdiameter extending in the same direction as the portion of greatestdiameter of said first-mentioned sound passage.

duced attaching portion, the length of the mouth-piece being greaterthan its smallest diameter, said n1outl1pieee being composed of a solidblock having a plurality of independent air passages extendingtherethrough, the solid material between the passag'mtays serving tostrengthen the mouthpiece.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speeiliealiou in thepresenee of two subscribing Witnesses.

' LOUIS S'IEINBERGER.

' W'itnesses \VAmoN ITARHISON,

lnlmr D. Romulus.

Copies ofthis patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

